Photodecomposable bases (PDBs) are photoactive additives used in chemically amplified photoresist formulations to improve photoresist properties and lithographic performance. PDBs are thermally stable basic compounds that produce non-basic products, i.e., neutral or weak acids (pKa 0 to 5), upon exposure to imaging wavelengths. Because effective base concentrations vary with light exposure, the use of PDBs in chemically amplified photoresists offer improved performance, formulation stability, and delay stability over conventional base quencher additives, which are used to control acid diffusion in chemically amplified resists. PDBs have a number of applications in photoresist technology. For example, they are generally added to photoresist compositions to improve resolution, linearity bias, and to stabilize latent images. Examples of PDBs are arylsulfonium or iodonium salts containing anions, such as acetate, hydroxide, or sulfamate.